


Somewhere in Between

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Crying, Fluff, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sweet Kisses, nothing is actually mentioned or described
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-08-27 02:18:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8384167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Nightmares suck, but at least Keith's there with open arms and a slow dance or two.





	

"I must admit, I was wrong with my first impression of you," Sendak purred, his voice soft and gentle. It sent a shiver up Shiro's spine, an unwarranted reaction given the circumstances. After Shiro had started winning more matches and making a name for himself in the arena, they had secluded him from the others. It made it easy to keep their eyes on Shiro, he supposed, but it made it even easier to turn them away when someone crept into the cell with him late at night. Sometimes it was one of his guards. Sometimes it was just someone from another ship, coming to this one to deliver a report and found boredom in their room late at night. Most of the time, though, it was Sendak. 

Shiro had lost him arm. The last thing he remembered was the offended expression upon Sendak's face, his features twisted into such a way that Shiro wasn't even sure why it was meant for him. Was Sendak angry that something had injured his favorite plaything? Was he angry at Shiro, for allowing himself to succumb to a wound like that? 

Shiro wasn't sure. The pain still coursed through his body even now, hours later after the match and rendering reality obstructed. He was pretty sure his arm was bleeding again, too. He just didn't care at the moment. Whatever Sendak was here for, hopefully it was to get Shiro some help. For once, he wouldn't fight back or argue. 

"Despite your loss, you made me proud, boy," Sendak continued, crouching down in front of Shiro, reaching out with his normal hand to caress the side of his face. "I urged them to keep you alive. You're still breathing, because of me." 

There was a hint of pride in his voice. Shiro felt sick. 

"Just hang in there, for only tonight. I'll have special arrangements made for you in the morning. That witch will know what to do to make you better, stronger." Sendak grinned, squeezing the side of Shiro's face harshly with his claws. Shiro could feel them start digging into the skin, scraping against bone that wretched a scream from his throat. The lights were fading, the only thing left that Shiro could see being the glare of Sendak's teeth in the dark. The moved like they were talking, creeping closer and closer to Shiro's face. He tried to get away, but he was locked in place. He couldn't move, the darkness was swimming around him, forcing nausea to gain control over his rational thinking. The pain in the side of his head got worse by the second, and Shiro could feel himself yelling, _screaming_ at Sendak to go away and for someone to help him...

Shiro suddenly jolted awake, covered in a cold sweat and gasping for air. Keith was hovering over him, his expression wrought with concern as he cradled Shiro's head in his hands, his lower lip trembling. 

"Oh, thank god," Keith breathed, lowering his head against Shiro's chest and shaking it. "You started yelling in your sleep...screaming at someone to go away. I tried waking you up, but every time I touched you, it just seemed to hurt you more..." 

Shiro blindly reached for Keith, gasping heavily as he hugged the smaller man close to himself. His grip was tight and unwilling to let go, but Keith expected that. He always did. Shiro was grateful when he felt Keith's arms wrap around him, his body adjusting over Shiro's so they could lay quietly together. 

Luckily for the both of them, it wasn't long before Shiro got himself together again. "Sorry, Keith," he managed to laugh, his voice hoarse and soft. He rubbed at the back of Keith's neck as he adjusted himself up against the pillows, pulling Keith with him as he moved. 

"Don't apologize," Keith murmured, moving with Shiro to sit more comfortably in his lap. "You know I wasn't sleeping, anyway. After today, I was making sure you got to sleep all right..." He pouted, reaching out to cup Shiro's cheek, his thumb brushing the tears away from the corners of Shiro's eyes. 

Shiro smiled weakly, turning his gaze to the wall. "It was just a nightmare...I guess I should finally learn my lesson. Hanging around that Galra crystal doesn't do good things for me, huh?" He sighed shakily, reaching for Keith's hand to hold and squeeze tightly. "Sendak's another story..." 

Keith chewed at his lip, his eyes flitting from Shiro's face to his hand, to the tension in the man's shoulders and the quakes in his hands. Shiro caught on, turning to meet Keith's gaze with a question in his eyes. 

"Do you wanna listen to some music?" Keith finally asked, reaching behind Shiro to dig around underneath the pillow. "Pidge managed to figure out how those strange tablet things in our rooms work. I didn't realize she had so much music downloaded onto her laptop, but she offered to share some, so...I have some stuff we can listen to, if it'll help you calm down." 

Shiro managed a soft smile. "I think I'd actually like that a lot," he laughed, reaching up to press his forehead against his palm, rubbing it firmly. "I don't think I'm getting back to sleep any time soon...I hope that won't bother you." 

"You know it won't," Keith mused, his brows scrunched in concentration as he tapped on some sort of video background music. It was something nice and slow and vaguely familiar. Shiro was sure it was from something they played together before. Maybe. He didn't quite know the kinds of things Pidge was into. In any case, the the chance to listen to some actual music was nice. 

They sat together in silence for a while, Keith resting against Shiro's chest as he took advantage of the moment to just _breathe._ Keith looked like he'd been lulled to sleep by the steady movements of Shiro's chest, the gentle rise and fall something he seemed to be clinging to. It was cute, and Shiro couldn't but smile as he reached down to stroke Keith's head, finding himself pleasantly surprised when Keith's eyes were open and on his. 

"I thought you were sleeping," he chided, reaching up with his other hand to tap the tip of Keith's nose with a finger. 

"I wasn't," Keith replied, a hint of amusement to the tone of his voice. "I was just resting my eyes." 

"Fair enough," Shiro murmured, leaning in to kiss Keith gently on the lips. He lingered when Keith didn't pull away after a second and instead leaned into the motion, his head tilting to the side, their noses rubbing together. The soft, plush feeling of Keith's lips helped ground Shiro all the more, and he leaned back against the pillows with the intent to pull Keith along with him. 

Keith didn't follow, instead keeping Shiro upright as he pulled back with a small smile. "I have an idea," he murmured, throwing the covers back and slipping off of the edge of the bed.

Shiro watched him a moment before Keith grabbed his hands, yanking him up from the bed and dragging him towards the middle of the room. Their music had still been the same, slow and soft genre of background music, and from the looks of Keith's actions, it looked like he wanted to dance. 

"And you call me sappy," Shiro teased, looping an around around Keith's waist, the other holding his hand out beside them. 

"I only know how to do anything remotely like this because of you," Keith said, quirking an eyebrow to match his innocent expression. "Come on, Keith...no one's on the roof, it'll be all right..." 

Shiro laughed, guiding Keith into a slow, lazy pace. "I suppose that's true," he murmured, leaning down to bury his face in Keith's hair. "You enjoyed it, though. You can't deny that." 

Keith just made a noncommittal grunt, leaning his head against Shiro's chest. Not much was said after that, their attention focused instead on each other and their slow, lazy circles they made in the center of the room. Keith stayed up all night long with Shiro doing that, holding him close, making sure no more nightmares came his way. It was nights like these when Shiro realized just how damn lucky he was, and how grateful he was to be back in Shiro's arms.


End file.
